Ache
by jackandsamforever
Summary: Liz has lost her way since losing her father and finding out about Tom. She's attracted the unwanted attention of a childhood friend and needs Red to help her. Set in the near future.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything related to the Blacklist.

Liz waved at Meera as she walked out of Hive and into the elevator. It had been another unsuccessful day in their search for one of Red's blacklisters; she felt like going home and drinking until she couldn't remember anything. It seemed as if everything that could have gone wrong, did; from waking up a half hour late, to dealing with Ressler's abrasive attitude towards her, to tripping over the curb on her way back in from lunch and scraping her knee. It was one of those days, years really, that she wished she had a fast-forward button for her life.

It'd been ten months since her dad died, and seven months since she'd found out the truth about Tom. As a result, for the last several months she'd just been going through the motions of daily life. Going to work, working on a case, going home and eating dinner, then going to bed. She'd hadn't had a change in routine for as long as she could remember. Meera invited her to many things, but Liz always turned her down. Red had been the only person in her life that had actually made a difference, but he was busy with his own things and wasn't around often enough. She felt like her old self when he was at her house. He cooked meals for her and treated her as if she mattered; but as soon as he left, it felt as if he hadn't ever been there. In the back of her mind she knew that she was displaying all the signs of depression, but she didn't want to go to a doctor, or even deal with it really; she hoped it would just go away.

Liz stepped out of the elevator and glanced at her surroundings as she trudged through the parking garage towards her car with slumped shoulders and heavy legs. The garage was quiet, with only a few cars left as the work day had ended for most people hours ago. She was a few steps from her car when her cell began to ring. It was so quiet in the garage that the loud trill of her phone scared her half to death. She let out a little scream, then put her hand over her racing heart as she dug the phone out of her pocket with her free hand.

"Scott," she said a little breathlessly without looking at the ID.

"Liz, it's so good to hear your voice again." Came a woman's warm voice over the phone

Liz narrowed her eyes and pulled her phone away from her ear to see who it was; it wasn't a number she recognized.

"Um..who is this?" She said suspiciously.

The woman laughed softly. "Oh Honey, this is your Aunt Tiffany. I know it's been a long time since we last talked, but your Uncle Josh and I are in town and wanted to see you."

Liz stood there staring at the door handle of the car as she processed what the woman had said. They weren't "technically" her Aunt and Uncle. They had been her and Sam's neighbors for a long time, and she had grown close enough to them that they seemed like family. It had been a least fifteen years since she'd seen or talked to them.

"Oh..umm..wow," she said nervously, as she ran a hand through her slightly oily hair. She wasn't sure she wanted to see them because they would see how bad off she was. She was a failure, as least in her own eyes; no husband, no child..nothing.

Tiffany continued before Liz could say anything else. "We're here with our oldest son Isaiah. He just moved to DC and doesn't know anyone here. Then we remembered that Sam had mentioned that you moved here and got a job with the FBI. We hoped to introduce Isaiah to you." That explained how they had her number; she silently cursed her father.

Liz cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Yeah," she said in a false cheerful voice, "That sounds like fun. When did you want to meet?" She remembered Isaiah faintly, he was a two years older and had always treated her like a pre-teen boy would treat a young girl; in other words he'd been a nuisance.

"We're only in town until tomorrow morning, so we were hoping you could go out tonight. Do you have plans?"

Of course she didn't, but they didn't need to know that. "I was going to go to a movie with friends, but I can go with them another time. Did you have a particular restaurant in mind?"

"We don't know much about the area, do you have any suggestions?"

Liz pulled her keys out and unlocked her car door. "Yeah, there's a great place near my house. It's called _Old Ebbitt Grill_. They're pretty cheap and have good food, unless you wanted to go somewhere fancy?" Liz prayed to the heavens above that they would agree to her suggestion.

Tiffany laughed. "Lord no, this place sounds great." She paused for a moment, then said, "It's six now, can you meet us there at seven?" That would barely give her enough time to get ready, but she didn't care too much at this point.

"That works, see you soon." She tried to sound excited, but knew she sounded fake and hoped that Tiffany wouldn't call her out on it.

"See you soon, honey. I can't wait to see you. Bye."

The phone disconnected and Liz threw it on the passenger seat and laid her head on the steering wheel. She was tired, and the last thing she wanted to do was try to keep up appearances with people she didn't know well.

Her phone started ringing again and she reached for it blindly. She found it after a few moments and put it up to her ear. "Scott," she said with little enthusiasm.

"Lizzie." Red's warm voice embraced her like one of his comforting hugs. It had been a few weeks since she'd seen him, and she realized then how much she'd missed him.

She sat up with the first genuine smile of the day sliding over her face. "Red. I thought you were gone for good this time. What's going on?"

She heard the tinkling of ice cubes as he said, "I was hoping to bring you dinner. I'm sure you haven't had a decent meal since I was over there last." He knew her too well because he was right on the money. She wanted to see him more than anything now, but knew she would have to turn him down.

"I just got a phone call from some childhood neighbors that I haven't seen in years. They wanted to introduce their son to me, again, and catch up at the same time. So I'm going to have to take a rain check."

He was silent for a few seconds, and Liz wondered if the connection was lost. "Alright, call me when you get home." His voice sounded odd, and she wondered at his tone. It almost sounded like he was jealous.

"Ok, talk to you soon." He hung up without saying anything else. Great. Now the one person that mattered to her was angry.

Liz tossed her phone back onto the passenger seat and turned the car on, then made her way home slowly; feeling worse than before.

OOOOOO

Liz walked into the grill five minutes late and searched the room for people who looked like she remembered from so long ago; she didn't see anyone like that.

She pulled out her phone to call Tiffany, but then saw a striking woman with dark brown hair stand up and wave at her subtly with a wide smile. The woman didn't look familiar, but that had to be her. Liz made her way over to them and gave them a small smile as she reached them. Tiffany pulled her into a tight hug, then pulled back and said, "My aren't you beautiful. I didn't recognize you at first because it's been so long." She patted Liz's cheeks then turned to a tall, skinny man with a head full of thick silver hair standing behind her. "Do you remember Josh? This is my husband."

Liz reached her hand out and shook his hand firmly, "It's good to see you both again." Liz glanced around a little, but didn't see anyone else with them. "Didn't you say your son was going to be here?"

Tiffany smiled again and gestured behind Liz. "There he is now. He had to make a phone call."

Liz turned and had to remind herself to keep her mouth closed as she watched him approach. Isaiah was absolutely gorgeous; with long lean legs, dark hair, blue eyes and a muscular upper body. In other words, a dream.

Isaiah smiled with perfect white teeth and held his hand out, "Nice to meet you. Your name's Elizabeth right? I think I remember teasing you when we were kids." His voice was deep and she couldn't help but to compare it to Red's voice; Red's won.

Liz shook his hand briefly and said with a smile, "You can call me Liz. I remember you taking my rollerblades and hiding them from me. I don't think I ever found one of them."

Isaiah laughed loudly and said, "Well, for that I'm truly sorry. I'd offer to buy you another pair, but I don't think you're into rollerblading much anymore." He winked and Liz instantly picked up on the type of man he was; he was a charmer, just like Red.

Isaiah gestured to the table and said to everyone, "Should we sit?"

Liz nodded and watched as Tiffany and Josh took the two chairs opposite of them, leaving her to sit by Isaiah with her back to the front door. She knew what they were trying to do, but it wasn't going to work; she was already falling for another man.

They sat around and chatted for the next half hour while munching on their appetizers. Liz found she was having a great time, but knew it was because she'd isolated herself so much the last few months. Josh and Tiffany talked about Sam and told stories that Liz knew she would hold onto and cherish forever. As Isaiah began telling another story about Liz, he put his arm around her chair and told them about when Liz had kicked him in the shins for teasing her for liking Power Rangers. They all laughed and Josh ran his fingers over her shoulders lightly; she didn't know if she liked that or not and felt as if she was betraying Red, even if she didn't have any claim to him.

Soon after, he moved his arm and Liz felt herself relax a little more, until he covered her hand that was lying on the table with his. She didn't want to be rude by pulling away, but she was beginning to feel uncomfortable by his touches; only Red was allowed to touch her like that, and he rarely did.

There was a lull in the conversation, and Liz saw Tiffany's eyes move towards the entrance and stay there. Liz turned her head and froze at the sight of Red standing there in his gray three-piece suit and amber sunglasses with his left hand tapping his fedora against his leg. He made eye contact with her soon after and gave her a small smile, then looked at Josh's hand holding hers and frowned. She rose her eyebrows in question as he bit the inside of his cheek and gestured with his head for her to come over. She turned and smiled at the people staring at her with confused looks on their faces. "If you'll excuse me for just a moment."

They nodded and Liz pulled her hand out from under Isaiah's and made her way over to Red. "What are you doing here?"

He worked his jaw momentarily, then looked away as he said, "I came to tell you that dear Harold had been attempting to get a hold of you for a while now. Apparently they had a break in their case, but he called Dembe a few minutes ago and said never mind." He huffed a laugh, "You FBI never fail to amuse me."

Liz rolled her eyes and grimaced. She wasn't sure how to address what he had seen, and she didn't want him to get the wrong idea. "Look, Red-"

He interrupted her by putting his fedora back and said briskly, "No matter, you have fun with whatever it is that you're doing, and I'll see you tomorrow."

Red moved to turn away, but she grabbed his hand and pulled him back around. "Do you want to join us?"

He shook his head and pursed his lips. "I don't want to interr-"

She didn't give him a chance to finish as she turned and began pulling him towards their table. When they reached it, she grabbed a chair from the next table over and put it next to hers, then turned to the group of people still looking at her oddly.

She gave them a half-smile and said, "This is Raymond Reddington. I work with him, and he's a-

"Her significant other," Red interrupted with a look at Isaiah that could only be interpreted as predatory as he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side.

Tiffany and Josh both rose their eyebrows in surprise as Tiffany said, "I didn't know you were seeing anyone. You didn't say."

Liz cleared her throat and tried to recover from both her surprise and Red's proximity. "Oh, it's..recent, and a little complicated."

She didn't dare look at Isaiah, and could only imagine the look on his face.

Tiffany reached forward and patted her hand. "Well...good for you." She didn't look happy for Liz, and that's when Liz knew for sure that Tiffany was hoping she would get together with her son.

Red's phone rang and he pulled it out and quickly excused himself to answer it. As soon as he was out of earshot, Isaiah turned to her with a frown. "He's really your boyfriend?" His voice was disbelieving.

Liz nodded, glad that she didn't have to continue to put up with his unwanted touches. "Yeah. He's my best friend, and I only just realized that I had feelings for him."

Isaiah snorted, finally showing his true colors. "Wow, you must be desperate. He's old enough to be your dad."

Tiffany admonished him, "Son, shut your mouth. We didn't raise you to be like that." Liz suddenly knew why he was in his late thirties and single; he was an ass.

Isaiah didn't say anything else as he shook his head and picked up his fork to finish his meal.

Liz could feel tears stinging the back of her eyes as she stood up and mumbled that she would be back.

She found Red standing in the bathroom hallway as he spoke quietly into his phone. She leaned against the wall and waited for him to finish while wiping the tears leaking from her eyes.

He hung up and turned to her with concern as he saw she was crying. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

She took a deep breath and shook her head. "Nothing, I'm just tired."

He stepped closer and pulled her into a hug, then kissed her temple and rocked their bodies back and forth slightly. "I know you well enough to know that you're lying. Did they say something after I left?"

She wrapped her arms around him under his suit coat and said nothing; her silence confirming his question. He moved his hand up and ran it through her hair and said with his lips against her ear, "I can leave and you can tell them I was just joking around. I don't want you to feel like you have to keep up appearances as my girlfriend."

"No, I don't want to do that."

Liz felt his body tense as he understood what she was trying to say. He pulled back and looked at her as he cupped her jaw with his hands. He apparently saw an answer to his unspoken question, because he leaned down and kissed her softly; teasing her by brushing his lips over hers and pulling back a few times. She pulled her hand out from under his coat and put it on his neck then pulled him to her. She opened her mouth under the pressure of his lips as he kissed her with an urgency that took her breath away. He pushed her against the wall and moved his tongue in her mouth as he pinned her arms above her head and pushed his body into hers; both temporarily forgetting where they were at. He put his leg in-between hers and let her grind down as they both moaned into each others mouths.

They were brought back to reality by someone clearing their throat. Red wrapped his arms around Liz's waist and pulled her lower body against him to hide the evidence of his arousal as they moved away from the wall. Liz looked over and saw that Isaiah was staring at them in surprise with his phone mid-way to his ear. Liz smiled, trying to ignore Red's arousal pressed into her stomach, and said sweetly, "Sorry, Isaiah. We got a little carried away."

Isaiah said nothing as Liz stepped away and Red walked into the men's bathroom to "fix" himself. She made her way back over to the table and sat down with a smile. "Sorry about that, I had something I needed to talk to Raymond about."

Josh smiled and said, "It's fine, we were finished eating anyway."

Tiffany nodded in agreement. "It's been so much fun getting to know you again. I hope we can stay in touch this time around."

Liz nodded, while rolling her eyes internally. She wouldn't mind keeping in touch with them, but not with Isaiah; he'd already shown what kind of person he is. "I would love to. Why don't you give me your e-mail address and we can keep in touch that way."

Tiffany gave her their e-mail, then they chatted about inconsequential things until Red and Isaiah returned at the same time. Isaiah looked a little worried, and Red looked smug; Liz would bet on her life that he'd said something threatening to Isaiah. Isaiah didn't sit back down as he addressed his parents, "I just got called into work so we need to be going." He turned to Liz and said, "It was nice to see you again, maybe we'll see each other around sometime." Liz nodded as he turned and walked towards the entrance. Liz stood up and hugged Tiffany and Josh, then Tiffany said, "Sorry about Isaiah, I don't know what's gotten into him."

Liz shook her head. "Don't worry about it, you guys have a safe trip back home."

"Thank you, good luck with your job. It was nice to meet you Raymond."

Red nodded from his seat as they watched the couple follow their son out the door.

Liz sat down heavily and blew out a breath. She felt like she'd aged ten years in a matter of minutes. Red took her hand and ran his fingers over her scar lightly. "What's on your mind?"

She clenched her jaw and avoided looking at him. "It doesn't matter. I'm ready to go home."

Liz tried to get up, but he pulled her back down and said warningly, "Lizzie."

She turned to him and said with determination. "That may have been an act to you, but it wasn't to me and I don't want things to go back to the way they have been. I've felt lost for months, but when I was in your arms back there for a few minutes, I finally felt like I had found my way again. I don't want go back to feeling like I was before."

He moved his chair closer until he could whisper in her ear. "You don't have to go back to feeling that way, Lizzie, it wasn't an act for me."

She blew out a breath and said sarcastically, "Well that's great news, but I still work for the FBI and you're still a wanted criminal. I don't see how anything could ever work between us."

He moved her head with his fingers until she was facing him, then leaned forward and kissed her with a promise. "We'll find a way."

When he kissed her like that, she believed him, and felt hope for the first time in a long time.

**AN: **This randomly popped into my head today and it had to be written. I know I have about 10 other fics that need to be updated, but what can I say? I would love to hear what you guys think. Thanks for reading.


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